Cushings/laminitis and the drug pergalide

[fairdown]

hi there, We have a 29yr old pony who has had cushings for the past 5years, he has coped remarkably well and we managed this well for this time, however since July he took his first bout of Laminitis, this is now his 5th bout and he just doesnt seem to be coming out of it this time. we are treating the laminitic symptoms with 1/2 danilon @ night & 1/2 Danilon in AM, remedial shoeing, correct diet control and a good deep bed. we contacted the laminitic society about a month ago who told us we were just treating the symptoms rather thnthe cause which is cushings, so we went to our vet and he wrote us a prescription for PERGALIDE tablets wich we had researched thoroughly.... he has now been on the pergalide for 18 days and although he has some good days, his bad days are very bad. i am wondering if anyone else has experienced using this drug and HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO KICK IN? or are we jut on a means to no end here???!!

 

[shell1978]

Sorry to hear about your pony. 29 years old is amazing! My mare had Cushings, and initially in the early stages I had her on Chasteberrie's, which relieved the symptoms, but then after a couple of months the symptons returned, so I put her on Pergolide.
I would say they kicked in between 7-10 days. Unfortunately she went down with laminitis while on Pergolide, and sadly never recoved so I had her PTS. Not much help to you really, just thought I would tell you my experiance. Hope your pony pulls through x

 

[emmachiro]

My mare is on pergolide too, been on it for ages, so can't be sure how long it took to kick in. She's also bad at the moment, think a lot of it is to do with the shorter day light hours which has a huge effect on the hormonal system and make them worse. Also frosted grass may have given her a bout of lamintis. Is yours on the correct dose as we've been told we can increase the levels if necessary.
It can also have a side effect of depression....have just bought a light box for mine to see if this helps!!!! Good luck

 

[Zuzzie]

I've had 2 horses with Cushings - but not laminitis. As a rule, the first sign that the drug is working is the long, thick, curly coat will disappear and be replaced with a normal shiny coat. This takes between 4 to 6 weeks. The cause of Cushings is a benign tumour on the pituitary gland which causes excessive amounts of Cortisol to be produced. Cortisol maintains the animals blood pressure and heart function, reduces the immune system to infection and inflammation, regulates nerve tissue function, balances the effects of insulin and regulates the breakdown of carbohydrates, proteins and facts. It also helps the body respond to stress.
Although the coat takes quite a long time to change I do believe that the drug should kick in much sooner but your vet should be able to answer this question for you.

 

[alsiola]

The response time can be pretty variable. I have certainly seen horses who haven't been improving for a while become rapidly sounder within 7-10 days of starting pergolide. A recent study showed that it can take up to 13 weeks to reach its peak effect, so I probably wouldn't give up before this unless things got really bad.

The cause of Cushings is a benign tumour on the pituitary gland which causes excessive amounts of Cortisol to be produced.

New studies carried out show that most horses/ponies with Cushings don't actually have a tumour, or any gross change in the pituitary gland. It seems to be a functional overproduction of ACTH by a seemingly normal pituitary gland. This also fits with the effects of treatment. A tumour would be producing ACTH massively, without regard to whether it has been stimulated to do so (by dopamine). A dopamine antagonist would therefore seem unlikely to work. A functional overproduction is still under dopaminergic control, so a dopamine antagonist would seem a logically effective treatment. As pergolide is a dopamine antagonist, and it does work, then this supports the functional overproduction pathology.